Snape had taken to being especially cruel to everyone in their potions lessons. After belittling Neville for not adding a powdered toadstool to his laughing potion, Snape swept from desk to desk spitting out insults as he went.

Hermione stood behind her cauldron looking quietly confident as her potion emitted a spectacular yellow mist as it should. Snape gazed at the contents and caught her demeanor.

"It must be so difficult for you to think Miss Granger, with your head growing so large."

Hermione went pink and retorted.

"Thank you, sir."

"That wasn't a compliment Miss Granger," Snape said his lip beginning to curl. "One day you'll realize that having no natural talent cannot be hidden by all the textbooks in Hogwarts."

As Snape turned away Harry opened his mouth to shout at him but Hermione grabbed his hand to stop him. Her hand lingered on his and he squeezed it gently as he saw tears forming in her eyes.

"Ignore him," Harry muttered. "He wouldn't know talent if it landed on his greasy head."

Hermione managed a small smile and let go of his hand.

When the lesson ended there was a clamoring at the door as everyone tried to run out at once, Hermione disappeared and Harry headed back to the dormitories to check on Ron. Ron had decided to skip potions after feeling unwell, something he was very grateful for.

"That slimy git," Ron said bitterly after Harry informed him of what Snape had said to Hermione. "He must know nobody likes him! Well, probably only Malfoy."

"Even by Snape's standards, he seemed unusually nasty today," Harry said replaying the event in his mind. "I wonder why?"
Ron looked at Harry disbelievingly.

"It's Snape, Harry. When does he ever miss an opportunity to insult us?"

Ron did have a point.

Ron had decided to go back to sleep and Harry headed back down to the common room to find Hermione. It was almost empty, only Parvati sat in the corner reading A History Of Astronomy.

"Hey Parvati, is Hermione around?"

"I saw her walking into the girl's bathrooms on the second floor on my way up here, she looked pretty distraught Harry. I can't believe Snape was so horrible to her." Parvati almost looked upset herself. Harry nodded in agreement.

"Thanks Parvati, I better go find her, she could probably use a friend at the moment."

He quickly ran back up to the dormitory and grabbed his invisibility cloak, if he was going into the girl's bathroom he thought better to be safe in case anyone else was around, especially Snape.

By the time he reached the girl's bathrooms, he thought Hermione probably would have left. The corridor was deserted and Snape was nowhere to be seen but he pulled his cloak out from underneath his robes and slipped it over him anyway. Harry crept into the bathrooms and looked around. It was empty but he could hear quiet sobs from the end of the cubicles. He walked gently over to it, taking off and dropping his invisibility cloak onto the floor before he knocked on the door.

"It's me, Hermione, are you alright?"

She sniffed a few times and he thought he heard her wiping her face before unlocking the door. Parvati was right, Hermione was clearly upset by Snape's comments. Her eyes were puffy from crying and her cheeks red from the constant wiping. As their eyes met she burst into tears.

"I'm sorry Harry, I-I don't know what's got into me," she bawled. Harry put his arms around her and she sobbed into his shoulder.

"Hermione don't listen to anything he says, when you cry he wins." Hermione gripped him harder and Harry gently stroked her bushy hair trying to calm her down. They stayed embraced for a few minutes and Hermione began to calm down, her heavy breaths reducing back to normal. Finally, she pulled away from him with her hands dropping to take his. He looked into her eyes speaking solemnly.

"Hermione, you are one of the kindest and smartest people I've ever met, Snape isn't worth your tears."

Hermione's eyes began to well and Harry thought she wasn't going to start crying again, but then she did something quite unexpected.

"Oh Harry!"

She released his hands and put her arms around him again, only this time she leaned up and locked her lips onto his. He quickly pulled away in surprise.

"Hermione -"

"Sorry, I'm sorry! I don't know what came over me," she squeaked, letting go of Harry and beginning to walk away. Harry grabbed her arm gently and turned her back.

"No, wait Hermione." He stepped closer to her and embraced her once again, placing an arm around her waist and the other to stroke her cheek. "You just caught me by surprise that's all."

In the middle of the bathrooms, they kissed again, their lips moving over each other like waves as they pulled into one another tightly. They stayed in the act for what felt like hours to Harry, he didn't want to pull away. He had never known this fire inside him that raged when her lips caressed his.

Finally, they parted each breathing deeply and smiling. She looked at herself in a mirror behind Harry and sighed.

"Sorry I look so awful, Harry," she said with a chuckle. He reached out, took her hand and kissed the back of it.

"You're the most beautiful thing I've ever seen Hermione."

She beamed back at him.